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The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

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1. Walt Whitman is often considered to be a larger-than-life poet, writing expansive lines and embracing the whole of America as his inspiration. In "Song of Myself" (Part 31), however, he writes, "I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars." How does Whitman call attention to small objects in "Song of Myself"? Why do you think he called his life's work Leaves of Grass? What does "a leaf of grass" mean to Whitman? To you?

2. Whitman writes in "Song of Myself, "Do I contradict myself?/ Very well then I contradict myself,/ I am large, I contain multitudes." Discuss some of the contradictions you discover while reading. How do these contradictions resonate for you?

3. In "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," Whitman imagines that each subsequent traveler on the ferry would look into the water and see the same visions that he saw. "Closer yet I approach you...I consider'd long and seriously of you before you were born," he writes. In this and many other poems in Leaves of Grass, Whitman seems to be talking directly to you, the future reader of his poems. How does it feel to be directly addressed? Does this change the way you read the book?

5. In "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," Whitman begins with a mockingbird, "Out of the mocking-bird's throat, the musical shuttle," and continues to come back to the mockingbird, a native American bird, throughout the poem. What images and associations does the idea of a mockingbird conjure for you? Does Whitman imitate other sounds in this poem? What role does the mockingbird play in the poem?

6. When Whitman had the opportunity to create an audio recording of one of his poems, he chose the poem "America." Read the poem silently and then aloud. If possible, listen to the recording of Whitman reading it at www.whitmanarchive.org/multimedia/audio.html. Does he sound like you expected him to sound? How is sound important to the meaning in the poem? What poems would you want to hear in Whitman's voice?

7. In "Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand" Whitman implores us to "Carry me when you go forth over land or sea;/ For thus merely touching you is enough, is best,/ And thus touching you would I silently sleep and be carried eternally." He also warns us that "For it is not for what I have put into it that I have written this book,/ Nor is it by reading it you will acquire it." What does the poem suggest about the physical act of reading? And of writing? And of speaking to another? What do these things mean to you?